When You Were Young:The ABCs of Life
by RayneXHatake
Summary: 26 one-shots in alphabetical order about our favorite silver haired ninja. AU
1. A is for Alibi

Disclaimer: Do I even have to put this? Isn't obvious I don't own Naruto?

Anyway, the newest little bunny here wants everyone to be patient with him. I'm redoing the first chapters and finally finishing the collection. Read and enjoy

* * *

A is for Alibi…..

Natalie looked at her husband and son in disbelief before looking around the destroyed kitchen. The chairs were pushed over, the table was on its side with a broken leg, and the entire room was covered in white flour.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in hopes of soothing the monster migraine that she was sure she was going to have in a few minutes. It seemed like every time she left the house something either broke or was dirtied beyond cleaning. She considered herself lucky this time around that the flour could be cleaned easily, unlike the marshmallow that was still burnt onto the stove. Honestly, why did her husband think it a good idea to let a four year old melt marshmallow was beyond her.

She looked at the kitchen one more time, noting the white paw prints on the ceiling, before turning her attention to the flour covered silver haired males in front of her.

"Someone better explain why my kitchen is such a mess?"

The White Fang of Konoha cowered before his angry wife, "Well you see, umm, I can't really explain what went wrong. It just happened."

Sakumo took the look on his wife face as a sign to shut up and fast if he wanted to sleep inside the house tonight. Sakumo already figured he was probably sleeping on the couch anyway.

Natalie walked towards her husband in anger as her young son spoke up, "Kaasan, we didn't do it!" Natalie looked at her son and was going to scold him for lying when he finished his statement. "Tousan said as long as we had a good alibi we could get away with it. He said that you couldn't blame us for this mess."

Natalie's gaze frosted as she looked at her husband, "Tousan said that did he? Well Sakumo, what's your alibi?"

Sakumo looked around for a way to escape, yes it was a coward's path but his wife was not known as Konoha's Angel of Death for nothing. Natalie moved in closer to hear his answer, "We were, umm, we were,"

Natalie cut him off, "Kakashi, save your Tousan before he digs himself in a deeper hole."

The little boy smiled at his Kaasan, "Tousan said that we were training the dogs, and that's our alibi!"

Natalie looked at the ceiling, "Obviously you were teaching them to walk on walls."

Kakashi giggled, "Wait till you see the living room."

At that point Sakumo bolted out of the door in a flash of white chakra.

* * *

-End-


	2. B is for Bath

Read and Enjoy

* * *

B is for Bath…

Hatake Natalie stretched as she got up from her afternoon nap before remembering that she had promised her son that she would take him to the park after naptime was over. Naptime had long since been Natalie's favorite part of the day and it would be sorely missed when Kakashi went to the Ninja Academy.

Natalie climbed the stairs to her young son's room and gently shook him awake, "Time to wake up 'kashi."

She watched as dark eyes opened sleepily and a small smile spread across the young face. Completely enamored by her son's cuteness, she planted a kiss on top of his head before gently lifting him into her arms.

"Kaasan, I'm almost four! I can walk by myself."

Natalie smiled before rolling her eyes at her 'grown-up' son, "Sorry, I forgot dear."

She placed him on the ground and watched him cutely take the stairs one at a time as Natalie went into the kitchen to see what they would need from the marketplace. Since they were going to be out already it made since for them to head to the store.

"Kakashi, after the park we need to get groceries okay."

The young boy nodded to her and off they went.

* * *

At the park, Natalie watched as Kakashi struggled to make friends. Even with the bright green grass and warm weather, her son was an outsider to the other children. It hurt her soul to see that. She didn't have to worry long though, slowly another boy, one that looked a whole lot like the Third Hokage, came and introduced himself to Kakashi. They hit it off real well and where soon swinging together. The two played so nicely together that she hated to take Kakashi away from the boy, but time wasn't on their side. Sakumo would be home soon and she still didn't have the groceries.

"Kakashi, time to go!"

Kakashi ran to his mother and stayed close by as they traveled to the market and began shopping.

"Okay Kakashi, I need milk, eggs, rice, bread, eggplants," Kakashi made a face at this, "and I need to go get some shampoo."

After they had gotten the groceries and made their way over to the shampoo aisle, little Kakashi looked up at his mother and asked her a question. "Kaasan?"

Natalie turned around, "Yeah, 'kashi?"

"How come you and Tousan take baths together, still?"

Natalie froze and blood rushed to her cheeks. She clamped a hand over her son's mouth and saw the disapproving glances of the older women. Natalie ushered her son into a corner and questioned him, "Kakashi, where is this coming from?"

Kakashi tilted his head, "Well I asked Tousan where I came from and he said from taking baths with you. And if you already have me what would be the point in looking for me in the bathtub?"

Natalie groaned, "Kakashi, don't listen to your Tousan he's a baka, just ignore what he said and I'll tell you when you are older." Kakashi looked stubborn for a minute before happily walking in front of his mother.

Later when Sakumo returned from his mission he was met at the door by his beautiful wife, "Hey sweetie"

She glared, "Explain to me why you told your four year old son he came from us taking bath together!?"

Sakumo knew at that point that he should have just kept his mouth shut about bath time.

* * *

-End-


	3. C is for Cookie

Read and Enjoy

* * *

C is for Cookie

Hatake Kakashi thought he was very clever for his age. At seven years old, he was the youngest Chunin in Konoha history and considered an all-around genius. He had been on more successful missions than ninjas twice his age and had only come back severely injured once. Yes, Kakashi thought he was very clever for his age, but the one thing he could not accomplish. No matter how many times he tried he could not sneak a cookie before supper. His parents always seemed to know when he was near the cookie jar.

Kakashi pouted and sat on the bottom steps of the staircase. Today he would get a cookie.

* * *

Kakashi quietly peeked around the door in the kitchen and luckily saw no one in there. He smiled to himself behind his mask, easy as taking candy from a baby.

Kakashi tip-toed into the kitchen before gathering his chakra to his feet and walking up the side of the refrigerator. He was so close to getting his prize that he could taste the chocolate chips on his prize. Our little ninja pulled himself onto the top of the refrigerator and lifted the lid off of the cookie jar. He looked around the room one last time before reaching his hand into the jar and could feel the crumbly texture of the cookie. Kakashi's smile widened in triumph, he had completed his mission and was ready to enjoy the reward.

"Kakashi, why are you on top of the refrigerator?"

Kakashi's eyes widened as he turned around and looked down into the masked face of his father. His mission had failed and he had been caught with his hand literally in the cookie jar. Kakashi knew he had to escape and fast. He hurriedly grabbed a smoke bomb out of his pocket and threw it to the ground.

Sakumo coughed and waved the smoke out of his face before looking up and seeing his son gone. Sakumo pinched the bridge of his nose to calm his headache down and went to sit beside his wife on the couch.

Natalie looked over her newspaper before taking out a piece of paper and marking a slash beside the word cookie. "Well that's the 39th time this week he has tried to get to the cookies. I really thought putting it on top of the fridge would discourage him."

Sakumo groaned, "What you forgot something. The fact that he's my son and nothing and I mean nothing discourages a Hatake."

Natalie laughed before looking at the list, as long as he didn't go after the exploding tags again, they would be just fine.

* * *

-End-


	4. D is for Dimples

Read and Enjoy!

* * *

D is for Dimples…

Sakumo watched his wife and son play in the back yard with the newest litter of puppies. The energetic newborns scurried around to gain the attention of the boy playing with them. Six little puppies verses one little boy didn't make very good odds for the little boy.

He smiled to himself as he watched a young pug jump onto Kakashi and push the child over before licking his face. Natalie laughed as she went over and saved her son by picking the energetic puppy up. She scratched the puppy behind the ears before putting it back on the ground and shooing it away.

Natalie picked up Kakashi and showed him how to whistle for the dogs. The White Fang laughed as his son scrunched his face up and pushed out his lips in an attempt to copy his mother's actions. Natalie gently shook her head and showed him again. Sakumo watched quietly, not believing the toddler would get it only to be surprised when a strong whistle came from the toddler's mouth, quickly followed by a yelp as six puppies jumped on him.

Laughing Sakumo walked over and tried to pick his laughing son up from the pack. Kakashi's face was glowing with laughter and his dimples stood out against the round cheeks.

Sakumo grinned, but also couldn't help but bite back a sigh; the boy had inherited his mother's dimples and would break hearts with them. The White Fang shook his head as he thought about Jiraiya's schemes to use his adorable son to get dates and of the fan girls he was sure the toddler was going to have when he was older.

Sakumo set his laughing son down and watched him run after the puppies. Natalie walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, "He's going to be too cute to become a ninja."

Sakumo laughed, "He'll have to wear a mask, like me. I mean looking as good as a Hatake man is dangerous."

Natalie smacked his arm, "Someone things a little high of themselves."

Sakumo turned her around in his arms before kissing her lips and watching as her dimples came out on her cheeks, "Hey, if you got it, you've got it."

Natalie laughed before turning around and watching her son run down the hill, all smiles, and dimples standing out on his cheeks.

* * *

-End-


	5. E is for Explosion

Read and Enjoy

* * *

E is for Explosion

As Hatake Natalie stood in front of the Hokage, she couldn't help but groan at the words coming out of his mouth. The dull ache in the back of her head signaled the migraine she knew she would have before the end of this meeting.

"Natalie-chan, I've called you here today to discuss an incident recently that involved Kakashi-kun."

Natalie sighed, "What did he do Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage laughed, "Well apparently he got a hold of some exploding tags."

Natalie felt like banging her head against the nearest wall and then killing her husband for not putting his exploding tags up. Was the man trying to bankrupt them and put her in a mental institute?

"How much is it going to cost?"

"Well it'll be about-" Natalie turned to see one of the ANBU guards dragging her son in by the collar of his shirt.

The five year old was trying to glare at the ANBU, "I don't see why I'm in so much trouble. That explosion could have been ten times bigger, and besides that man's eyebrows will grow back."

Natalie groaned before pulling out her checkbook, sometimes she wished her son wasn't such a genius.

* * *

-End-


	6. F is for Freedom

Read and Enjoy

* * *

F is for Freedom

Hatake Kakashi looked around his small apartment before looking into his mother's disapproving eyes, "Come on Kaasan, it's small, but it's got potential."

Natalie stared back at her 19 year old son, "I still don't see why you can't just live at home. I mean it would be so much easier for you to not have to pay rent."

Kakashi shook his head, "Kaasan I'm the only ANBU that stills lives with his parents, it's a matter of principle. I'm a grown man now. I need my freedom."

Natalie sighed before shaking her head, "Freedom? What are you going to do with freedom?"

"I can think of a few things." Kakashi's mind danced as he thought about where he could put his Icha Icha.

Natalie quickly tried to think of some way to change her son's mind, "You'll have to cook for yourself."

"I can order take-out."

"You'll have to wash your own clothes."

"Not a problem, it was one of my chores, remember?"

"You'll have to clean and don't give me that tone of voice young man."

Kakashi sighed, "I can do that Kaasan, I'm not four anymore."

Natalie smiled and Kakashi froze when he saw her blink back tears, "I know, but it's hard to believe sometimes that you're grown up. I still expect to see my little boy walk through the door and instead I see a young man. It's taking me some time to get use to it, but I'm trying 'kashi."

Kakashi understood and wrapped his arms around his mother, "It's okay Kaasan, no matter how much freedom I need, I'll always need you even more."

Natalie smiled before she pulled his mask down and patted his cheek, "Humor your dear old mother and let me see that beautiful face."

Kakashi pouted, which made him look so much younger than his 19 years. "Tell me about this 'freedom' you want so much."

Kakashi smiled and the dimples stood out on his cheeks as he told his mother about his plans. Natalie left her son's new house and soon found herself walking beside her husband, she looked towards him, "Did you know about this before I did?"

Sakumo nodded, "We both knew he would leave when he was older, it was only a matter of when."

Natalie grabbed her husband's arm and held on tight, "I'm going to miss seeing him every day."

"You'll see him, just not as much as you used to."

Natalie nodded before looking into her husband's face, "We both know he's only moving out so he can read his Icha Icha books."

Sakumo laughed and watched as his wife ran forward, "He'll be back Sakumo, once he gets tired of take-out and paying rent, he'll be back."

Sakumo agreed with her, but in his heart he knew it was time for his son's freedom.

Icha Icha included or not.

* * *

-End-


	7. G is for Gai

Read and Enjoy

* * *

G is for Gai

Natalie tried to hide her giggle behind a cough as she watched her thirteen year old son glare at the other thirteen year old boy. Said boy was currently shouting at the top of his lungs about Kakashi being his "eternal rival." Kakashi was not impressed with the blacked haired boy.

He glared one more time before turning and trying to walk away, but Natalie stopped him, "Now Kakashi, he's annoying but you can't be rude and leave him like that."

Kakashi just grunted at his mother's words. Natalie knew her son had a hard time making friends and wished he would give the boy with the bowl cut a chance.

"Be nice and talk to him."

She pushed her son closer to the boy before going back to shopping. "MY ETERNAL RIVAL! I challenge you in the springtime of youth to prove your coolness my accepting a challenge."

Kakashi turned and looked pleadingly at his mother, and she shooed him on, "Make friends, 'kashi!"

"Okay Gai, I pick the challenge, I pick-"

"NO, my rival, that's not fair. This will be a fair challenge."

Natalie picked up an apple and looked at the boys, "How about rock-paper-scissors?"

Kakashi glared at her and Gai beamed, "That is an excellent idea Hatake-san! Kakashi you are very lucky to have such a youthful Kaasan."

Kakashi snapped at him, "Okay what are the stakes?"

"If I lose I will run 300 laps around Konoha and likewise for you."

Kakashi nodded and they began their competition, "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!"

Natalie smiled as Gai's face faulted as he looked at their hands, Kakashi had scissors and Gai had paper. Gai recovered and smiled brightly before giving Kakashi a thumbs up, "That's fine with me rival. I will train and one day will defeat you! Our score is now 1:0 in your favor, but I'll defeat you. Yosh!"

Natalie stood beside Kakashi and handed him an apple. Together they watched the boy begin his laps, "At least he's dedicated."

Kakashi just took the apple and walked away. Natalie laughed, though her son didn't know it, he had just made a lifelong friend. Natalie just hoped that Kakashi wouldn't kill the boy later.

* * *

-End-


	8. H is for Healing

Read and Enjoy

* * *

H is for Healing

A knock sounded throughout the house and instantly alerted the sleeping couple in their bedroom. The woman jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs fearing the worse. She flung open the door and stood face to face with a snarling bear mask.

"ANBU-san?"

"Hatake Natalie? Come with me."

She looked back at her husband, "Can Sakumo come?"

The ANBU shook his head no, "They requested you only."

She nodded and kissed her husband's cheek, "I'll send word."

Natalie jumped over the roofs following the ANBU closely and silently praying underneath her breath for her son's well being. They entered the ANBU headquarters and she stopped in front of the commander who greeted her with a nod, "Hatake-san"

She wasted no time, "Take me to him."

The room was darkly lit and a low moaning was heard from the figure on the bed. She moved past the ANBU lining the wall and kneeled beside the low bed. She tried to hide the tears that fell down her checks, but looking at her 15 year old son lying on the bed in pain broke her heart.

She noted the bandaged chest and shoulders, and the bright red blood against the white of those bandages. Natalie gently stroked her son's silver hair and watched as he slowly opened his eyes.

She smiled and wiped away her tears, "What did they do to you 'kashi?"

He didn't respond, only reached for her hand and gripped it weakly, "I'm not going anywhere 'kashi."

She waited till he had drifted off to sleep before turning to one of the ANBU, "What's his condition?"

The Cat ANBU answered her, "His team was sent out three weeks ago and only he returned. According to his report they were captured and tortured, until Kakashi was finally able to escape. The lucky thing is that the enemy didn't get the information they were after. He has lost a lot of blood and some of the wounds have become infected."

Natalie nodded and pulled back the blanket to see the extent of the damage to her son's body. She winced at the slashes and lacerations; they would eventually heal if he made it through the night. She knew he could die from the infection in his body and as she placed her hand on his forehead, she saw he already had a fever.

She turned back to the ANBU, "I'm going to need cold water, rags, and clean bandages."

Kakashi had woken up and was moaning against his lips, "Kaasan?"

"I'm here; we have to get you better. Go back to sleep."

He didn't close his eyes, only winced as a pain shot through his body. An ANBU placed the cold water on the ground beside her and Natalie dismissed the remaining ANBU before peeling her son's mask off his face. His forehead was still scorching hot against her fingers. She took a wet rag and placed it on his forehead.

She was in for a long night, if she could stabilize his condition, he would survive the night. As the night wore on Kakashi began thrashing and moaning. She firmly held his arms down as the infection took it's toil on his mind and made him hallucinate about his ordeal, "Shhh, shh, you're home. They can't get you, you're home."

Her words did nothing to settle her son and she gently placed her cheek against his and held him down, trying to sooth him with contact. He settled down and Natalie sighed as she continued to try and bring his fever down. Later into the night Kakashi scared Natalie half to death, his heartbeat slowed down and his breathing became uneven.

"You are not dying on me Kakashi."

She gathered chakra into her hand and shocked his heart back into rhythm. Kakashi began sweating and thrashing in the bed, "Hurts, it hurts Kaasan."

"I know baby, I know, but you've got to sweat it out."

She watched as he tried to muffle his moans and not to move too much. Natalie changed his bandages and placed another cool rag on his forehead. She felt like she was in a daze as she nursed her son into the early hours of the morning. Every so often an ANBU would step into the room and see how everything was going; the last one had brought water and soup so she could keep him from dehydrating.

She propped her son up and gently lifted the glass to his lips, "Drink 'kashi."

Her son opened his lips and drank slowly. "You'll get better if you just rest."

Kakashi wavered between consciousness and unconsciousness when he asked, "Kaasan, Am I dying?"

She shook her head, "Not on my watch. This time tomorrow, you'll be just fine."

Kakashi just moaned in response and drifted off to sleep. Natalie wetted the rag again and placed it on his forehead. She laid her head on the bed, beside her son, and rested her eyes. The last thing she was darkness.

Natalie became aware of light coming through a window, "Light?"

Then she jumped up and she realized that she had fallen asleep. Terror flooded her system as she went to her son's bedside. He was sleeping peacefully. She sighed and touched his forehead, no fever. The infection had completely left his body. She let out a gentle laugh before standing and changing the bandages again, they were looking better but still red and angry. At least they were not bleeding anymore.

She walked out of the room, exhausted, but happy. She walked to the commander, "He gave me a scare last night, but he's healing." The commander nodded before telling her to go home and get some sleep.

Sakumo looked like he hadn't slept at all and raced to the door to wrap his arms around her and pull her into the house. "How is he?"

She took off her shoes and let her husband carry her to the couch. "He's healing Sakumo, and that's all I can say for sure."

Sakumo rested his chin on top of her head and held her as she rested. "As long as he's alive, I can't lose my scarecrow." The couple rested on the couch as their son rested on his bed and healed.

* * *

-End-


	9. I is for Interrogation

Read and Enjoy

* * *

I is for Interrogation/Innocence

10 year old Hatake Kakashi stood before his sensei, Minato, and patiently listened to the lecture on being interrogated by the enemy. "Hopefully you will never get caught by the enemy, but if you do, do not break. Do not tell them your mission or reveal any secrets of Konoha. Tell them only your name, rank, and serial number. I have faith in you Kakashi, and I know you wouldn't spill anything, but pain and anguish will make you want to."

Kakashi watched as his sensei got a faraway look in his eye, like he was remembering something unpleasant. Then the bright smile returned, "Let's go get our mission Kakashi!"

* * *

Years later as Kakashi is being strapped to a metal chair and staring into the laughing face of a Rock ninja, he sees the bright smile of his sensei and remembers the lesson from long ago. Kakashi takes a deep breath, which aggravates his broken ribs and coughs up blood before a fist hit him in the side of the head.

The questions pour from the Rock Ninja Interrogator and Kakashi simply repeats his mantra, "Hatake Kakashi, Chunin, 009720."

"Tell me your mission!"

"Hatake Kakashi, Chunin, 009720."

"Don't make me hurt you kid, Where is Konoha going?"

"Hatake Kakashi, Chunin, 009720."

Another fist slams into his head, "TELL ME WHAT I WANT!"

"Hatake Kakashi, Chunin, 009720."

Even as the interrogation turns to torture, Kakashi blocks out the driving senbon and the searing pain. Hours later when he is dumped bleeding and broken into a dirty, wet, and cold cell, he still murmurs his mantra to himself, "Hatake Kakashi, Chunin, 009720."

Kakashi thinks at this moment, that he is going crazy, but right before he falls over the edge, a blast echoes through the hall and his cell door busts open. Kakashi remembers rough hands gently picking him up and a voice yelling they needed a medic.

Kakashi wakes up in a Konoha hospital with his sensei sleeping in a chair beside his bed. His movements wake his sensei up, "How are you feeling Kakashi?"

Twelve year old Kakashi looks unmoving at the wall before answering, "I didn't break, I didn't break. No matter what they did I didn't break."

That night, Minato cries himself to sleep in the arms of his girlfriend Kushina. Kakashi would never be the same; this loss of innocence would shape the rest of his ninja career.

* * *

-End-


	10. J is for Jail

Read and Enjoy

* * *

J is for Jail

17 year old Hatake Kakashi glared daggers at the boy beside him, Sarutobi Asuma. Kakashi sat behind chakra enforced bars in the Uchiha Police Station, waiting for his father to come bail him out of jail.

Asuma was passed out in the corner of the cell and would be nursing a severe hangover tomorrow morning. He sighed as he leaned against the wall and thought about the night's events.

Asuma had showed up at his house at sunset and asked if he wanted to help him with something, Kakashi knew from experience that Asuma meant he wanted to get sloshed and needed someone there to make sure he didn't do anything drastic. The night had started off fine; being shinobi they had no problems getting the sake. Honestly henge was a very useful jutsu.

Asuma had his alcohol and Kakashi was laughing at his drunk friend's antics, then Gai happened to show up at the bar using the same henge technique. Asuma slipped Gai a drink of the sake and unfortunately Gai was fluent in the drunken fist style of fighting.

Gai nearly destroyed the entire bar before Kakashi got him under control, well his henge slipped and the bar owner call the Uchiha Police Force to arrest the underage drinkers. Gai had already been taken home and the Third said Asuma could sit in jail for the night.

Sakumo had been notified and Kakashi knew exactly why his father was taking so long. The White Fang of Konoha was allowing himself time to cool down and giving his son time to think about his actions. Kakashi closed his eyes as he heard his father's footsteps down the hall.

He cracked an eye to look into the controlled face of The White Fang, "Hi Tousan"

Sakumo growled, "Don't "Hi Tousan" me."

The Uchiha Officer opened the door and Kakashi lazily stepped out of the cell before walking in front of his father, handcuffs still shackling his hands, and down the hall. "Hatake Kakashi, you are hereby released to your father since you are a minor, please remember that the legal drinking age is 21."

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the Officer and instead nodded and rubbed his freed hands as they uncuffed him.

Father and son walked out of the police station and were traveling in silence before Sakumo broke it, "Turn right up here."

"But that's the way to the training grounds."

"I know, did I ask you?" Kakashi instantly shut up, his father was ticked.

They arrived in the training ground and Sakumo started, "What were you thinking tonight Kakashi? I know you weren't drinking, but you know you are not old enough to go into the bars. I was in the middle of training my team when I was informed my son was sitting in jail for underage drinking charges. I had never been so embarrassed and angry with you."

Kakashi looked at the ground, "I can't punish you like I did when you were young, I'm tempted to wear out your backside, but I'm not going to. Push up position."

Kakashi blinked before getting into the push up position, "I know Asuma is a friend of yours but he doesn't bring out the best in you right now. He's trying too hard to rebel against his father and you are being dragged down with him. Do you realize you wasted chakra tonight to sneak into a bar and because of Asuma our family is going to have to pay for a portion of the damages?"

Kakashi's arms were shaking from holding up his body but he refused to drop. "Your Kaasan is going to have a cow when she hears about this. You are smart Kakashi, a genius, so why are you making such stupid decisions?"

Sakumo stopped, "Okay get up and start running laps around the training ground."

Kakashi did and the entire time his father's words rang in his ear, "I have never been so embarrassed and angry at you," he honestly didn't think about what would happen if something went wrong. They would have gotten away if Gai hadn't drunk anything.

"Kakashi, how long has these meetings been going on?"

"A year."

Sakumo sighed, "What is your purpose there? Why does Asuma ask you to come with him?"

"I'm the only person who can keep him from doing something he would regret."

Sakumo chuckled dryly, "Something like what happened tonight? Keep running Kakashi."

Kakashi winced at the anger in his father's voice, "You know when you were born, I imagined a lot of things you would do, like walk and talk and become a ninja, but I never expected to have to bail you out of jail."

Kakashi sighed, but kept running. Sakumo's voice dropped in volume, "Kakashi, I'm not angry because of what you did, I'm angry because you did it even when you know the consequences. Normally ANBU is called when one of their own is put in jail. You could have been court marshaled and it would have never left your record, and ANBU don't have a history of being nice to their imprisoned members."

Kakashi was sweating by now and his head was swimming, how could he forget about ANBU? Kakashi groaned, "Forgot did ya?"

He nodded and kept running. Sakumo was quiet for a while before he called out, "Stop running and come here."

Kakashi gladly jogged to his father and stopped in front of him, even at seventeen Kakashi was still shorter than his father. He stood still and watched his father's hand move toward his mask.

Sakumo tugged the mask down to see his son's face. "Kakashi the only reason you were not released to ANBU tonight was because the Officer who jailed you was an old friend of mine. You rarely make mistakes, but I want you to know that Officer will not be able to call me again. If there is a next time, and I hope for your sake there isn't, ANBU will get you."

Kakashi stared at the grass in front of his father's feet before speaking, "I'm sorry for what happened tonight. It won't happen again."

Sakumo crossed his arms across his chest, "You are right about that, you may be a Jounin, but you are still my child and I'm grounding you."

Kakashi raised an eye-brow in disbelief, "You've never grounded me."

"Well consider it a first, you will report home directly after every mission and will train in the family training grounds. Asuma is not allowed anywhere near you until he sobers up, and I'm taking those books of yours that you hide underneath your bed."

"Tousan! My books?!"

"Kakashi, I trust you, but if you break curfew I will personally check every single mission you go on, don't try me boy."

Kakashi sighed and agreed with a shake of the head. Sakumo smiled gently before placing a hand on his shoulder, "Let's go home Kakashi, I'm not going to tell your Kaasan about this, but just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Kakashi nodded back, still feeling the sting of his father's words. He just wanted to make sure he never, ever ended up in Konoha jail again.

* * *

-End-


	11. K is for Kisses

Read and Enjoy

* * *

K is for Kisses

When Kakashi was young he asked his mother if there was more than one type of kiss. Natalie blinked down at her son before asking what he meant. The young boy then explained he wanted to know why his mother would kiss him one way and his Tousan another.

Natalie had blushed through the entire explanation before telling him there were two different typed of kisses, romantic ones and family ones. Kakashi was satisfied and Natalie informed her husband they were no longer allowed to kiss in front of their genius son, he was asking too many questions and she wasn't ready to explain where babies came from yet.

Years later, Kakashi realizes that his mother was wrong; there were more than two types of kisses in the world.

* * *

When Kakashi is four he witnesses the first two types of kisses he would learn about, his mother would give him a sweet kiss on the cheek before letting his Tousan kiss her passionately.

* * *

When Kakashi is seven and a Chunin he watches a teammate give their target a kiss laced with poison. Young Kakashi realized that sometimes kissing can be turned into a weapon.

* * *

When Kakashi is eight he flinches as Rin kisses his masked cheek before giggling and running away. He never knew there were feather light kisses.

* * *

Kakashi is thirteen and has just lost his best friend. He doesn't go home that night, instead he buys himself a prostitute and discovers that kisses can be sour and full of regret the next morning.

* * *

Kakashi is once again thirteen and standing before his sensei, begging him to not seal the beast inside the baby. He doesn't want to be left behind as the only surviving member of Team Minato. With all the tenderness of a father, Minato kisses Kakashi on the forehead and leaves in a flash of light. Kakashi's tears fall down his cheeks and around his lips, he thinks through the haze of his grief that kisses could sometimes be salty.

* * *

Kakashi is an emotionless ANBU at fifteen and learns that kisses are nothing special. They are there for relief and as he shoves his tongue down the throat of a female ANBU teammate after a particularly bloody mission, he realizes kissing is just an animalistic need.

* * *

Kakashi is seventeen when he is sent on a seduction mission to snow country to seduce a very wealthy man's wife. He quickly learns kissing sometimes makes you feel dirty, so dirty that no amount of water will wash your skin clean.

* * *

Kakashi is nineteen and has been out of ANBU for a year when he learns that kissing after drinking sake leads to drunken one night stands and bitter kisses in the morning.

* * *

Kakashi is twenty-two before he learns that kissing can be tender and loving. The girl is a civilian with black hair and a beautiful smile. She reaches to him and kisses him with such tenderness that he feels his body grow warm and wants to hold her forever. Maybe kissing wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

When Kakashi is twenty-six he meets Naruto, a boy shunned by the Village. Naruto had been on his team for three weeks when Kakashi noticed that the boy had terrible nightmares. As Kakashi held Naruto in his arms after a particularly bad one, he places a kiss against the boy's forehead, and decided that comforting kisses where good for bad dreams.

* * *

Kakashi is very old now, with many years under his belt when he experiences the final kiss. He is surrounded by his many children and grandchildren, as well as his students and their children. He smiles at each of them before he accepts the kiss of death. It wasn't as cold as he thought it would be, but it was unlike any kiss he had ever experienced.

It wasn't bitter, sour, or regretted, nor was it tender, passionate, or fatherly. It was warm and peaceful. Kakashi smiled as he stood outside heaven's gates before walking in and telling his Kaasan about the different types of kisses he had witnessed.

Okay maybe he better not tell her about the one-night stands.

* * *

-End-


	12. L is for Legacy

Read and Enjoy

* * *

L is for Legacy

Hatake Natalie had always bugged her son about giving her grandchildren, "You have to have a legacy Kakashi." Said boy would laugh and wave her off promising her would have one, just not right then.

Natalie walked to the front porch and smiled as she watched the three Genin practice in the front yard, Kakashi was correct in one aspect he did not have one legacy. He had three.

She called them in for a break, "You are going to make them lazy Kaasan."

She grinned at her son, "Well I'd rather them be lazy than dehydrate. Besides look who's talking, you're on the porch sitting down while they are training."

He waved her off, "I'm not a Genin and I already know what they are learning."

She shook her head and smiled as Sakumo dragged himself into the house from a long mission.

Naruto grinned at him, "Welcome back Sakumo-san!"

Sakumo just ruffled the boys hair before collapsing on the couch, Sakura giggled at her Sensei's Tousan before tagging Naruto and yelling, "You're it Naruto!"

Naruto took off and with a little prodding, so did Sasuke.

Kakashi instantly began yelling, "That's not training, but try to find each other using chakra, now that's training."

Natalie laughed at her son's attempt to teach them, he was doing a great job. Sasuke was smiling more, Sakura wasn't as much of a fan girl, and Naruto had actually quieted down. Natalie believed those three Genin would carry on her son's legacy and become Konoha's greatest ninjas since the Sannin.

Months later, after Sasuke abandoned the Village for power, Natalie thinks back to that afternoon and still believes those three Genin will be her son's legacy. Even as she holds a crying Naruto in her arms and tries in vain to stop his tears. He is heartbroken about his best friend's betrayal, and practically ran to Natalie after he couldn't retrieve Sasuke.

She is sitting on the couch, just holding him, the same way she held Kakashi after Obito died. She shushes Naruto down till he is softly sobbing against her lap and looks at the opposite couch. Sakura has cried herself to sleep, with her head in Kakashi's lap and her feet in Sakumo's.

Even as she sees the pain Sasuke has caused her son and her other adoptive grandchildren, she knows he'll be back and when he comes back, she'll be waiting. Because he is a part of her family now, her son's legacy and a part of her legacy, and family sticks together no matter what.

* * *

-End-


	13. M is for Monster

Read and Enjoy

* * *

M is for Monsters

A figure is huddled in the middle of a small bed, clutching blue sheets over his head and shaking as he peers from underneath the covers to look into the dark hole that is his closet. His eyes train on a figure in the closet and he swears it has 4 foot long teeth and long snake-like arms. The closet door opens a little and our frightened figure bolts from the bed and races down the hall.

Two figures are passionately kissing each other and slowly removing clothing in the room down the hall. The man, better known as the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo and the woman, known as Konoha's Angel of Death, Hatake Natalie are engrossed in their welcome home party. Sakumo has just returned home from a three month long mission and missed his wife dearly. He was kissing his way down her neck when their bedroom door was thrown open and their three year old son runs into the room.

Sakumo instantly removes himself from his wife's embrace as she covers herself with the blankets, "Kakashi?"

Sakumo gets out of bed and goes to the cowering boy at the foot of the bed. Kakashi turns scared eyes to him, before recognizing him, "Your home Tousan!"

"Yeah I am, but what are you still doing up and barging into rooms like that?"

Natalie had by now pulled his shirt on and was currently picking her son up and into her arms. "What's wrong 'kashi?"

The boy only buried his face into her neck and sniffled, Sakumo wanted to groan, Kakashi was not going to sleep in this bed tonight. "Kakashi, we're not mind readers, what is wrong?"

Kakashi still didn't answer and Sakumo plucked him from his mother's lap and carried him down the hall, "Well if you're not going to tell me what's wrong, then you can go back to bed."

The boy instantly spoke, "NO! The monsters in there."

Sakumo blinked down at the boy in his arms, "Please don't make me go in there Tousan! Please !"

Kakashi had begun crying hysterically causing Sakumo gently rubbed his back to calm him down, "Kakashi! Calm down baby, I'm not going to make you go in there if it scares you that bad."

Kakashi hiccupped against his father's shoulder, "How about you show me this monster."

The boy shook his head, "No, it'll eat you."

Sakumo scoffed, "I'm Konoha's White Fang, I'm sure an elite ninja like me can handle a closet monster."

Sakumo entered the room and placed Kakashi on the bed, "Okay, come on out monster. I'll teach you about scaring my son."

The boy pointed a finger towards the closet door and Sakumo saw the "monster" was nothing more than a trick of the shadows on some of the clothes in there. "Don't worry Kakashi, I'll make sure the monster leaves and never comes back."

Sakumo pulled out a kunai from the hidden spot in the wall and lazily threw it into the closet; he was rewarded with a soft bang. He turned the light on and looked into the closet before turning back to his son, "See, that monster ran when I got after him."

Kakashi smiled and clapped for his father, "Thank you so much Tousan!"

Sakumo put Kakashi back underneath the covers before placing a kiss on his forehead, "That monster won't mess with you anymore and if it does, just stand up to it. Show it who boss is." Kakashi yawned before snuggling against his pillow.

Sakumo walked back into his bedroom to see his wife lying on the bed and trying to keep the laughter out of her voice as she asked, "Did the monster eat the elite ninja?"

Sakumo shut the door before walking over to the bed and kneeling over his wife. "I took care of the monster, but there is probably a hole in the wall where the kunai hit."

Natalie giggled as Sakumo spoke against her lips, "We have got to get a lock."

The next night Kakashi stands before his closet and kicks the door shut before giving the monster a piece of advice, "I'm the son of the White Fang, Don't mess with me monster."

* * *

-End-


	14. N is for Nurse

Read and Enjoy

* * *

N is for nurse

Hatake Sakumo groaned into his pillow as he tried to calm the pounding behind his eyeballs, but nothing he tried was working. His body ached, his throat was sore, he couldn't breathe out of his nose, and he was pretty sure he had a fever. He grumbled and cursed the rain for making him sick.

He could hear his wife in the kitchen, his current position being the living room couch, and weakly called out to her, " 'Nata!"

She walked in with concern in her eyes, but with a smile on her lips, "Yes Sakumo?"

The great White Fang just simply reached for her like a child, pout settled on his lips and all, "I'm sick."

She laughed and he gave a half hearted glared, "I can see you are sick. I told you not to train in the rain didn't I?"

Sakumo just closed his eyes and tried to make the spinning feeling he felt go away. "Can't you take care of me today?"

She giggled before grabbing a blanket off of the back of the couch and covering him with it, "I will, let me go fix you some soup."

She walked out of the room and he heard the front door open to reveal their 19 year old son, Kakashi. "Tousan, you don't look so good."

Sakumo just simply grabbed the pillow from behind his head and threw it at his son, who caught it before laughing and giving it back. "Your Kaasan's in the kitchen go help her."

Kakashi nodded and walked into the kitchen to help and moment later they both returned with medicine and a bowl of hot soup. Sakumo sat up and took the medicine from Kakashi and the soup from Natalie. "Now you take all of that medicine and eat the soup, then we'll see about that fever."

Sakumo smiled and his eyes twinkled mischievously even in sickness, "So you are playing nurse today for me?"

She nodded; "Yep"

Sakumo looked at her before speaking again, "So are you going to wear the nurse's uniform?"

Natalie blushed and Kakashi groaned, "This is exactly why I moved out. My parents' cosplaying is something I'd rather not think about." Sakumo laughed but in his heart he knew, as soon as Kakashi left, out comes his favorite uniform.

* * *

-End-


	15. O is for Operation

Read and Enjoy

* * *

O is for Operation

Hatake Natalie sat in the doctor's office shaking her head in disbelief, how come out of all of the childhood illnesses that Kakashi could get he got tonsillitis? Leave it up to her son to be difficult.

She smiled calmly at the 9 year old Chunin as the doctor told him they would have to remove his tonsils if he wanted the swelling in his throat to go down. Kakashi nodded his head numbly and together they walked home in silence. They were standing in front of the house when Kakashi interrupted the silence with a question.

"Kaasan, this operation I'm not going to die from it am I?"

Natalie wrapped her arms around him, "No, 'kashi, this is one of the safest procedures they can perform. They don't cut your throat they just simply go through your mouth and cut the swollen tissue out. You will be fine Kakashi."

The boy looked at his kaasan before eye-smiling at her and walking into the house to think over what she had said as Natalie went into the kitchen and began making lunch. By the time lunch was ready Kakashi was downstairs again and sitting at the kitchen table, "Kaasan, how long am I going to be off active duty?"

"I would say about 3 weeks, give or take a few days."

He nodded and picked up his plate, "Kaasan, have you ever had an operation before?"

Natalie nodded and sat back in her chair, "Yes, but when it was younger and I was terrified of it."

Kakashi blinked before asking shyly, "You were scared?"

"Yeah, it's a natural reaction to the unknown. There is nothing wrong with being afraid of your operation Kakashi. I'm going to tell you the same thing my Kaasan told me. Just go in there and close your eyes and when you wake up I'll be by your side."

Kakashi smiled at his kaasan, his mask was around his neck, before speaking, "You'll stay close by?"

"Of course, if they would let me I'd be in the operating room. And don't worry I heard Tsunade might be the one doing to operation."

Kakashi's eyes got big before he got up and ran to the door, "Kakashi where are you going?"

"I find to find Tsunade and apologize for making fun of her and hitting her with those water balloons."

Natalie shook her head; her son was really a handful sometimes.

* * *

-End-


	16. P is for Persuasion

I'm back! Well I finally found the bunny in charge of this story underneath my bed, the litte guy just needed some prodding and help and he eventually came back out. So here is P!

* * *

P is for Persuasion

Sakumo glared at Kakashi before tossing his hands up in anger and pointing at the florescent orange books spread across his son's bed. Kakashi looked away in embarrassment before quickly trying to formulate an excuse for why he had the explicit books and how he got them. Being a thirteen year old Jounin did not mean he was old enough to buy adult literature and Sakumo knew that.

"Explain. Now."

Kakashi sighed before sitting on the bed beside his collection. "Dad, it's not like I'm plotting murder here."

"No you're reading porn, that's worst."

"Erotica."

"What?"

"It's erotica not porn."

Sakumo narrowed his eyes at his son before picking up one of the books, "I'm going to burn them. You're too young to be reading or looking at this stuff."

A look of complete terror flew across Kakashi's face, "Dad! NO! Please don't! Do you know how hard it was for me to get those?"

"And I care why?"

"Daaaad!"

Sakumo shook his head before confiscating the books and walking out of Kakashi's room. Kakashi pouted before sitting down on his bed and glaring at the wall. Exactly how his dad got past the jutsu and traps that protected his hiding space was beyond him. A sigh was heard throughout the room and Kakashi growled before lying on his stomach and hiding his head underneath the pillow, utterly bored.

Natalie was standing in the bedroom folding clothes when Sakumo walked in and dropped the books on their bed. She raised an eyebrow at her husband's obvious anger as he walked right back out of the room. Natalie snorted with laughter before finishing the laundry and walking over to the bed to see the orange books that made her husband so angry.

"Hmm, what's this?"

Natalie picked the first book up and within the first ten pages was transfixed by the story. She continued sitting there reading until her husband came back with a box of matches. "Natalie?! What are you doing?!"

Natalie looked over the top of the book and raised another eyebrow at her husband, "I'm reading, what does it look like I'm doing?"

Sakumo shook his head, "But its porn!"

Natalie blinked before flipping through the book, "Oh, so it is. Is that a problem?"

Sakumo sputtered in shock, "T-those are the books I confiscated from Kakashi. I'm going to burn them."

Natalie shook her head, "No you're not."

"And just why not?"

"If you did that then I'm not going to be able to finish them. Give them back Sakumo and I'll reward you for your efforts."

Sakumo crossed his arms across his chest, "A reward?"

Natalie nodded before turning the book around to show him a picture on the two pages, "If you give them back, then we'll try this."

Sakumo blushed heavily before looking away and coughing, "Can you even bend like that?"

Natalie grinned, "We'll just have to find out, won't we?"

Sakumo took the books off of the bed and walked back into Kakashi's room before dumping them on the bed, "Brat, you can keep them. Now go visit Minato or something."

Kakashi blinked before picking up his books and noticing he was missing one. At that point, he really didn't care though, he had all of his books back and that's all that mattered.

Hours later Natalie grinned at her husband as he sat on the bed intently reading the same orange book that was missing. She smirked to herself before hoping her son was grateful to her, if it wasn't for her skills of persuasion his precious books would be gone. Sakumo's fingers slyly danced up her back and she smiled even more.

* * *

I couldn't resist putting the final part in and thanks so much to ChaCha1 for helping me with finding that bunny. ;P


	17. Q if for Quarantine

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.....sadly

* * *

Q is for Quarantine

Five year old Hatake Kakashi sat on his bed covered from head to toe in a pink lotion. His head hurt, he had a fever, and his entire body itched. Needless to say, little Kakashi was miserable. What was the culprit behind his misery? An advanced genjutsu or perhaps some chemical ingested during a dangerous mission? No, five year old Genin Hatake Kakashi had fallen victim to a very common childhood disease, chicken pox.

Sakumo sat on the edge of Kakashi's bed and gently applied more lotion to the bumps along his son's arm, normally Natalie doted on Kakashi when he was sick but this time around she wasn't allowed around her son. Unfortunately for the males of the family, Natalie had never had chicken pox and in order to escape serious complications, she wasn't allowed in the house until Kakashi was better.

Kakashi openly pouted at his father, "Tousan, it itches."

Sakumo smiled sadly at his son, "I know 'kashi, but it'll only be for a few more days and then you'll be better."

Kakashi pouted even more before glaring out the window and cursing his last mission. His sensei hadn't thought about the repercussions of keeping Kakashi around the client's sick son, and honestly Kakashi hadn't thought he could catch chicken pox. He was Hatake Kakashi, youngest genin in the history of Konoha and currently quarantined to his bedroom. Apparently sickness wasn't afraid of his shinobi ability.

Sakumo gently ruffled his son's hair before pushing him to lie back down, "I've got to head out. I've got a mission but it shouldn't take more than a few hours. Jiraiya's going to come over and stay with you until I return."

Kakashi nodded before closing his eyes, perhaps if he slept then his headache would go away.

* * *

Jiraiya groaned before saying bye to Sakumo and heading upstairs to see if the little brat really was sleeping or just lying in wait. When he opened the door to see the silver haired boy sleeping peacefully, the Toad Sage smiled and closed the door behind him. Perhaps the kid would sleep until Sakumo returned.

Kakashi did end up sleeping a while, but about two hours after Sakumo left, he woke up with an extreme desire for water. A groan echoed around the room as Kakashi sluggishly tried to get out of the bed, only to fall after his feet became entrapped in the blankets. Jiraiya jolted from his own nap as he heard the bang from upstairs and hurriedly raced up the stairs to make sure Kakashi was fine. He opened the bedroom door to see Kakashi kicking the blankets off and trying to stand.

"Gaki, get back in the bed."

Kakashi stopped struggling and glared at the one man that got under his nerves more than that weird kid with the bowl cut. The super pervert himself, Jiraiya. Though Kakashi didn't feel well, he couldn't resist teasing the older man.

"Don't you have something else to do ero-jiisan?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, two could play that game. The brat was going to regret calling him 'ero-jiisan'. "For your information, I'm here because your Tousan asked me to come make sure you didn't dehydrate or," Jiraiya smirked at the boy, "turn into a chicken."

Kakashi crawled back into bed, "I'm not going to dehydrate or turn into a chicken. Why would I turn into a chicken anyway?"

Jiraiya's eyes glowed with mirth as he answered, "They didn't tell you? I can't believe they would keep something like that to themselves. Dang, I may not need to tell you then."

"Tell me what?"

Mentally Jiraiya was congratulating himself; he had the kid's full attention now. "Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you since you're already showing symptoms." Kakashi tilted his head to watch as Jiraiya moved across the room and began listing a list of symptoms. "Fever, itchy bumps, clucking cough, and extreme thirst, sorry to tell you kid, but you're turning into a chicken."

Kakashi stared at Jiraiya before erupting into laughter. "Chicken pox doesn't make you turn into a chicken! I may be five but I'm not stupid."

"Oh really? Then why did your Kaasan have to leave huh? She couldn't stand seeing her son turned into a chicken. Your Tousan's only staying around to make sure your transformation is complete. In fact, he didn't go on a mission today, he went to get you some chicken feed for later."

"That's not true and completely stupid! It's medically impossible for a human being to turn into a bird. Ero-jiisan has just had way too much sake today."

Jiraiya shrugged before beginning to walk away, "Fine believe what you will. But think about those itchy bumps, they're where the feathers are going to grow and your cough is going to eventually turn into a cluck. Also your headache, it's just where your mouth is trying to form a beak."

Kakashi rolled his eyes before hopping out of bed and heading downstairs to get him a glass of water, if Jiraiya was going to be a baka then there was no need for Kakashi to ask the man to get him the water. It was usually best to ignore people like that.

* * *

Sakumo shook his head before looking at the present the client had given him after he got rid of the coyote attacking her farm. A low class mission for him, but she didn't know if the culprits were human or not so Sakumo had to investigate and thus the mission was a very low C-rank. A waste of his skills really but with Kakashi sick he wasn't willing to head too far away from home. Now just what he was going to do with 25 pounds of chicken feed was beyond him.

* * *

Kakashi stood on the stool beside the sink and filled up a glass with tap water before downing the liquid in one gulp. He refilled his glass and began to climb down the stool as Sakumo walked through the door. He walked to greet his dad before freezing in his steps as he saw the words on the bag in his dad's hands. Kakashi dropped his glass to the floor and ignored Jiraiya's yelp of surprise at the sudden noise. Kakashi's mind raced as he propelled himself forward and wrapped his arms around Sakumo's legs.

"I don't wanna be a chicken!"

Jiraiya laughed loudly and clutched his sides as he fell backwards. Sakumo blinked in confusion before picking up his hysterical son and making out enough to understand what Jiraiya had told him. Sakumo growled as he tried calming Kakashi down, "Jiraiya I'm going to kill you, no actually, I'm letting my wife kill you."

Jiraiya didn't care; he was too busy trying to catch his breath.

* * *

Five days later Jiraiya happily walked out of the Jounin lounge with a smile on his face. Playing that trick on Kakashi had made his week and not even Tsunade knocking him around could change that. Though, the pervert should have remembered that Momma Hatake didn't play when it came to her son. Natalie appeared out of nowhere and slapped Jiraiya on the back before walking into the Jounin lounge.

As strange as that was, Jiraiya didn't know what hit him when exactly twenty minutes later the chakra enabled seal went off and he found himself covered in feathers and sporting a beak. The best part about the seal though, was the fact that only Natalie's chakra could disable it.

* * *

^_^ too cute right?


	18. R is for Red

Disclaimer: Seriously? Do I even have to put this? Okay if you haven't checked it out yet, I did redo the first chapters and made them better. Enjoy!

* * *

R is for Red

Hatake Sakumo had been a shinobi for many years and had seen many things as a shinobi. He watched Iwa shinobi tear apart an entire squadron of Konoha shinobi before being struck down in one very bloody and yellow swoop by Namikaze Minato. He watched children starve in the streets and beg the invading shinobi to spare a morsel of bread they didn't have. Sakumo had stood beside Orochimaru as the man laughed while the enemies burned and screamed.

Yes Sakumo had seen gore, violence, blood, and evil up close and personal. He danced with it on a daily basis and laughed when he came away unscathed save a few broken ribs and lacerations. Sakumo was far from a squeamish or easily terrified man. He didn't choke on his words whenever he saw the torrents of red blood flowing from a cleanly cut artery. He didn't get a fast and furious heartbeat whenever he saw another comrade covered in blood that may or may not be their own. He didn't even blink an eye whenever the beautiful red liquid coated his own hands and clothes.

Yes Hatake Sakumo was far from a squeamish man but that didn't stop him from wanting to vomit as he watched his six year old son slowly walk toward the house. His moments sluggish and weighed down, as if his body was fighting his desire to be home. Sakumo wanted to throw up as he saw his young son, his baby, streaked in drying blood, the fresh red color and the drying brown mixing together to make a very ghastly copper color. His heart wouldn't slow down and listen to him as he walked forward to greet his son. Blood and gore matted the once silver hair, staining it a very light red, and Sakumo found himself choking on his own words. The genius White Fang couldn't think of anything to say to his son.

Kakashi turned almost dead eyes on his father and slowly reached for him. Sakumo closed the gap and took Kakashi into his arms, ignoring the rusty brown blood that was staining his clothes, and took him into the house.

Hatake Sakumo watched his now clean son sleep uneasily and for the first time in a long time his steady eyes, the same ones that never blinked when blood coated his hands and clothes, blinked rapidly. Even then, the rapid movement of his eyes couldn't stop the flow of tears.

Sakumo found himself hating the color red as he sat beside the smaller bed. Hating it and hating the way it looked on his son's skin and in his hair. He buried his face into his hands at that point, because no matter how much he hated the color, it was a shinobi's color. The red would always be there, staining the kunai holding hands.

* * *

Did you guys like it? Oh and complete shameless plug here, if you liked this go check out my other stories. ^_^

'Rayne


	19. S is for Sticky

Ahh moving right along. Here's letter 'S'. I hope you guys go and check out my profile for updates and other fun stuff.

Happy Readings

* * *

S is for sticky…

Hatake Natalie walked lazily through the gates of Konoha, stopping long enough to greet the chunin that guarded the large front gates of the village, before heading to the Hokage Tower to deliver her first mission report back. Natalie had just recently returned to active duty, she felt Kakashi was old enough to be without his kaasan for a couple of days without causing too much separation anxiety. The boy, well baby, was only seven months old and she really didn't want to separate herself from him until the last possible minute. She knew her baby boy would one day grow up and leave the nest, but for now she was going to worry about keeping him happy and safe.

* * *

Hatake Sakumo was racing against the clock, he knew his wife was going to be home any second and if she came home at that exact moment, she wasn't going to be too happy with him. In fact, Sakumo was pretty sure she would kill him if she came home and saw their son. Quickly, he grabbed the boy up, ignoring the sticky feeling between his fingers and began stripping his clothes off. The sticky mess of clothes fell to the bathroom floor as Sakumo sat Kakashi in the bathtub and began gently scrubbing his skin. If he didn't hurry up and get Kakashi clean, Natalie would make sure he didn't see the inside of their bedroom until Kakashi was a jounin.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi is seven months old, an expert crawler by now and equipped with a curious mind. He doesn't like it when his 'Tousan', as they want him to call the warm male with the long silver hair, ignores him. He also doesn't like it when he's playing on the kitchen floor and his Tousan knocks large bottles of black stuff to the floor. Curious little Kakashi couldn't help but crawl over to where the sound came from and look curiously at the bottle. A small pool of blackness is coming from the top of the bottle and as Kakashi puts his little hands in the pool, he discovers the stickiness of it and giggles happily before clapping his hands together and pulling them apart. The little wet strings attached to his hands fascinates him.

Kakashi claps again before calling out to his Tousan to show him what he found, but his Tousan is still reading the newspaper and ignoring Kakashi. Little Kakashi pouts before picking the bottle up and watching it hit the floor again, more sticky blackness pours from the top. Kakashi blinks before forming a small idea in his genius brain. He quietly rises on his knees before placing his hands on the sideways bottle and leaning forward. The bottle slips out from underneath his hands and causes Kakashi to bump his head against the floor, but he doesn't cry. His attention is too focused on the large pool of blackness where the bottle once was.

Once again Kakashi clapped before sticking his hands in the middle of the pool and slapping them against the syrup covered floor. Kakashi's happy gurgling and broken words don't reach Sakumo's ears until Kakashi's clothes and hair are effectively splattered with the sticky mess. By that time Sakumo can do no more than fear of his wife's reaction and quickly clean Kakashi up.

Sakumo almost made it too. Kakashi was cleaned and upstairs ready for a bottle by the time Natalie walked through the door. Sakumo almost let himself think he had gotten away with what had happened that afternoon, but Sakumo forgot one thing in his race to clean up Kakashi.

"Why is my kitchen covered in maple syrup!?"

Sakumo groaned as Kakashi giggled happily before clapping. Sakumo promised himself he would remember to clean up everything next time and for his sake, he hoped there wasn't a next time.

* * *

^_^ Sakumo should have known better than to leave a baby unattended, bad things usually happen.


	20. T is for Truth

Without further delay, here is the next little section.

* * *

T is for Truth

**To tell the truth, Sakumo never expected to get her pregnant.**

Okay, maybe somewhere deep down inside, he expected they would one day have kids, but not this soon. They had only been married two months and already Natalie was sheepishly telling him she was late. The idiotic part of Sakumo wanted to ask 'late for what', but he knew better. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

**If he was perfectly honest with himself, he didn't even want a child, not so soon at least.**

The entire next month Sakumo spent hours thinking of reasons why they shouldn't have a child. They were too young. They were both full-time working shinobi. They had both never really worked around kids and wouldn't know how to raise one. The list continued on and on, until he had accumulated a very good argument over why them having a child would somehow cause all of mankind to fall into the second Dark Age.

Of course, when he mentioned all of this to his wife, she laughed before kissing his cheek. She found it funny that he was scared about having a baby. Sakumo scoffed before reminding her that the White Fang of Konoha was scared of nothing. Natalie just grinned and nodded her head to agree with him before telling him there was nothing they could do about it now. She was pregnant and they would be parents in a few months time, and slowly he found himself warming up to the idea.

**Truthfully, he was shocked when Natalie miscarried two weeks later.**

She woke Sakumo up in the middle of the night crying silently and trying to tear the blood stained sheets from the bed. It wasn't until later, while holding Natalie, that Sakumo realized how much he really did want that baby. His own tears fell to mingle amongst the ones Natalie already cried for their unborn child. The guilt of not wanting the baby filling his heart and making him wonder if the miscarriage was somehow his fault.

**Honestly, Sakumo never expected Natalie to cry two years later when he asked if they could try again.**

They weren't tears of sadness, she promised him promptly before kissing him firmly on the lips. She was ready to try again and hopefully see this one to term. Sakumo stood beside her, the old fears creeping up before he squashed them back down. They would try again for a child and that was final, his mind was made up.

**Frankly, getting pregnant was a longer wait than Sakumo originally thought**.

It took three long months before Natalie once more sheepishly walked over to Sakumo and informed him she was late. Once more, Sakumo found himself squashing down the 'late for what' question before smiling and hugging her close. Surprising new warmth entering his heart, his wife was pregnant with his child.

**Genuinely, Sakumo found himself wanting this child more than he had ever wanted anything else in his entire life.**

Nine month, nine long months, is how long it takes for a baby to grow from a few cells to an entire organism. Sakumo waited patiently while his child's body began to grow inside his wife's womb, little limbs formed and little heartbeats were heard for the first time. Natalie worriedly counted days and checked for any sign of miscarriage. When none showed during the entire first trimester, she knew they were finally home free.

The day Sakumo found out he was having a son; he was training with his team in the Forest of Death. His teammates didn't understand why their captain got so excited over a stuffed baby blue dog with soft fur. A few believed he finally went off the deep end. Though to be fair to the confused shinobi, legends like Sakumo were crazy.

**Sakumo's son was born two weeks late in the middle of September**.

The first time Sakumo held his son, he was shocked by the frailty of the child. All soft skin and weak bone meshed together to form his baby. He gently kissed the soft forehead before letting his senses take in everything that was his son. Wispy silver hair, wide watery grey eyes, small fingers, even smaller toes, smooth skin, and a heart piercing wail.

As Sakumo wiped away the tears collecting in his son's eyes, he thought back and wondered what the other baby would have looked like. Perhaps a little girl with her mother's black hair? Or another little boy?

Natalie smiled at him sleepily from her hospital bed and held out her hands to take the hungry baby. Sakumo watched as she lovingly brushed an escaped tear off of the baby's cheek while feeding him. She looked up and caught Sakumo's eyes before smiling.

"What are we going to name him?"

Sakumo shrugged, "I'm game for just about anything."

Natalie's eyes mischievously sparkled, "Fine, then I'm putting his name down on the birth certificate. You can find it out later."

Sakumo nodded his head in agreement before kissing her forehead and then leaning down to kiss the top of the baby's head. "I trust you."

It wasn't until later that Sakumo looked at his son's birth certificate and shook his head in disbelief. "Kakashi? She named him scarecrow?"

He walked back into his wife's room and picked up the squirming child, "Well Kakashi, blame your Kaasan for your name if you get teased later."

Little Kakashi gurgled back in response before nuzzling against his Tousan and drifting back into sleep. Sakumo chuckled to himself before looking out the window of his wife's room and thinking back to his list of worries. Where was the fall of mankind? Sakumo chuckled at his idiocy before gently swaying Kakashi in his arms.

To tell the truth, the world was suddenly a bright and sunny place.

* * *

In some places this was kind of darker than I originally intended. Ahh well, it worked out. T was hard, I went everywhere before finally settling on this one.

'Raybe


	21. U is for Urgency

Disclaimer: Do I have to even say it?

Welcome back to the newest chapter, moving right along with U. Okay, I'm supposed to be studying bbbuuutttt it's boring and this was more interesting. ;P

* * *

U is for Urgency

"Now chakra is the mixture of physical energy and spiritual energy. Does anyone know where we get this energy from?"

Kakashi mentally rolled his eyes as he watched the academy sensei scan the crowd for a hand. Only three students had their hands raised, the others were avoiding eye contact in hopes the sensei wouldn't call on them. Kakashi knew the answer and could probably give it in complicated words that even the sensei herself wouldn't know the meaning to, but instead of answering, he stared at the chalkboard. He honestly believed if he had to spend another day sitting in this classroom listening to her lectures then he was going to lose it.

"Ahh yes, Jiro-kun, do you know the answer?"

An older boy with brown hair blinked as his name was called and nodded his head furiously. Kakashi gave him three seconds before he got the answer completely wrong and three months before he dropped out of the Academy altogether.

"Umm Mika-sensei, we get physical energy from our body and spiritual energy from nature?"

Kakashi resisted the urge to groan; at least the boy got half the problem right. Normally Kakashi would never be this restless and arrogant, but when you put a five year old genius in a class he already knows, it never ends well. Kakashi had taken to mentally berating his classmates, something his mother would never approve of if she knew what he was doing.

"Almost Jiro-kun. Yes we get our physical energy from every cell of our body, but our spiritual energy comes from exercise and experience. Now once those two elements are mixed together they can be channeled through the chakra system. The chakra can then be called upon using hand seals. Can anyone name a hand seal?"

Not a single hand was raised after the sensei's question and Kakashi turned to stare longingly out the window. He would rather be just about anywhere than sitting in his seat.

"Kakashi-chan! Pay attention!"

Giggles and laughter went up as Kakashi lazily turned his head back to Mika-sensei. The woman insisted on calling him 'Kakashi-chan' instead of 'Kakashi-kun' as she did with the other students. Kakashi was younger than them but that didn't give her the right to constantly acknowledge his age. Plus it made Kakashi frustrated and when Kakashi got frustrated his devious streak acted up.

"I am paying attention Mika-sensei"

The woman smiled softly before taking a deep breath, "Of course you were Kakashi-chan. Now can you tell me one of the hand seals?"

The other students turned to look at the youngest and smallest member of their class. Some hoping the little kid didn't know the answer and others hoping this would be enough to scare him back to his rightful age class.

Kakashi grinned, "Of course sensei, the hand seals for channeling chakra right?"

Mika-sensei nodded before leaning against her desk, waiting for his answer. Kakashi tapped his finger against his desk one time before bringing his hands together and performing the seal as he said them, "Rooster, Boar, Dog, Dragon, Ox, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Horse, Money, Rabbit, and Ram."

Mika stared at Kakashi in silent shock and Kakashi innocently smiled, "Was that right Sensei?"

"O-of course Kakashi-chan."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, he absolutely hated that honorific.

* * *

Sakumo whistled to himself as he walked towards the Academy to pick up his son. He stopped short when he saw Kakashi leaning against the outside wall of the Academy.

"Kakashi? Something wrong?"

Kakashi shook his head and immediately ran to pull his dad towards the house. "I'm just ready to go home."

Sakumo let Kakashi pull him for a little ways before scooping Kakashi up and sitting him on his shoulders. Kakashi smiled before gripping the top of his dad's hair lightly.

"How was your day?"

Kakashi groaned, "Horrible, why do I have to go to the Academy?"

Sakumo sighed before reaching to pat Kakashi's leg, "Son it may be a little boring, but you're stuck there until you graduate. It's only a few years and maybe you'll learn to enjoy your time there."

Kakashi crinkled his nose up in disgust, "We'll see about that."

Sakumo chuckled, "Kakashi, sorry to say, but unless you can get Mika-sensei to allow you to test early, you've got to stick it out."

At that moment, Kakashi's genius brain developed a plan so sinister and devious that years later Uzumaki Naruto would be the only academy student to wreck as much havoc as five-year-old Hatake Kakashi did that week.

"Let the games begin."

* * *

Kakashi's ingenious plan began with a simple tack and a very clever genjutsu that Natalie swore up and down she didn't teach her son. Before class stared, Kakashi cast the genjutsu on Mika-sensei and watched the fun unfold.

The genjutsu was designed to be used for trackers, something both of his parents excelled at, and gave off little to no chakra. It was virtually impossible to detect and didn't require a lot of chakra to maintain. The genjutsu required there to be a victim, Mika-sensei, and an object of tracking, the tack. The genjutsu caused the tack to follow Mika-sensei around the room and try to stick into her skin.

The entire day Kakashi watched with glee as the female teacher would begin talking and then start yelping as the tack found its way back into her chair or underneath her hand. By lunch, Mika-sensei was paranoid enough to call off classes early. Kakashi, being the noble little kid he is, slowly walked up to his sensei and dispelled the genjutsu.

"Kakashi-chan, how did you know it was a genjutsu?"

"Sorry Sensei, gotta run!"

* * *

Day two of Kakashi's plan started off normal enough for his sensei. She immediately attempted to dispel any genjutsu that may have been cast on her, only to find nothing. It wasn't until she opened the top drawer of her desk and an explosion of mustard, wasabi paste, soy sauce, and mayonnaise erupted in her face that her day went downhill.

The class didn't know whether to giggle or run for the hills as Mika-sensei angrily wiped the messy concoction from her face best she could before growling at the students, "Class dismissed."

The other students filed out quickly, but Kakashi slowly walked out. He stopped by her desk and handed her a tissue from his pocket.

"Here you go Sensei."

As Kakashi walked out of the room whistling, Mika narrowed her eyes at the boy's back. He wasn't the one doing it, was he?

* * *

Unfortunately for Kakashi, day three didn't happen like he planned. The snapping turtle he planted inside the academy coffee pot was found before his sensei could get her morning coffee before class. Well, at least he now knew that Kazuma-sensei screamed like a little girl. Apparently, he had a fear of turtles.

* * *

Kakashi waited on day four before acting out his plan. He let Mika-sensei think she was off the hook. His dad always said never become habitual because it made it easier for the enemy to counter your attacks and Kakashi wasn't about to let Mika-sensei win. Kakashi waited until class was dismissed before setting up the trap outside the door of the classroom.

The innocent looking net trap was covered almost completely by the doormat and blended in well with the surrounding brown. The net was attached to almost invisible chakra strings that would pull her up and suspend her in the air in front of the classroom door. Kakashi just hoped his sensei didn't stay too long or she'd have to spend the night in the trap.

A few minutes later Kakashi heard the very distinct and loud cursing of his sensei. His smile grew larger when the final part of the trap went off, covering her completely in honey and syrup.

* * *

There wasn't a day five for Kakashi, but there was for Natalie. Mika-sensei figured out that Kakashi was the culprit behind the pranks and sent a summons to the Hatake house for one of his parents to meet with her for a parent-teacher conference. Since Sakumo was out on a mission, Natalie went and found herself talking to a very twitchy teacher about her son's misconduct.

"Kakashi-chan is a very smart little boy, but he does things that just aren't right."

Natalie's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Are you saying there is something wrong with my son?"

Mika quickly shook her head, "No, that's not what I'm saying. He's just been acting out lately."

Natalie assessed the teacher in front of her, "How has he been acting?"

Mika fiddled with her hands, "He's been pulling pranks and not paying attention in class and overall being a little brat."

"My son usually has a reason to do the things he does. Are his grades being affected?"

Mika blinked rapidly, "No, of course not."

"Then what's the problem? It sounds to me like he's bored."

Mika nodded, "I've noticed that too, which is why I think we should let him graduate early."

It was Natalie's turn to blink rapidly, "Seriously?"

"Anything to get him out of my classroom."

* * *

The next week Kakashi took the Academy Exit Exam and passed with flying colors. The Hokage looked down at his newest genin before sighing, "Kakashi-kun, why did you cause so much trouble at the Academy? Mika-sensei almost had a breakdown. Do you know how much paperwork that would have been for someone? Namely me?"

Kakashi grinned before apologizing, "Sorry Hokage-sama, but I had to get out of there and if I didn't then I was going to lose it."

Sakumo just glared at his wife as his son was instated as a shinobi of Konoha. "I blame you for this because he obviously gets his ideas from you."

Natalie winked at her husband before shrugging her shoulders, "What can I say? He's a brat with a mission."

"Yeah well now we've got a five-year-old genin. What's next?"

"We meet his Sensei and I threaten him or her with certain death if anything bad happens my son, speaking of which me and the Hokage have to talk after this is over with."

Sakumo rolled his eyes, "Natalie, you're not allowed to threaten the Hokage."

"I'm not threatening him. I'm simply suggesting his life would be a whole lot easier if my son isn't sent on life threatening missions."

Sakumo shook his head and hoped whoever his son's Jounin-sensei was could handle _both _Kakashi and Natalie.

* * *

^_^ Kakashi was really urgent to get out of the Academy wasn't he? Just like I'm urgent to get this semester over with. ;P Oh summer, why are you so far away?


	22. V is for Victory

Welcome to the newest chapter! Now these last couple of chapters were really hard because of the letters. Has anyone ever tried to think of a word for x? Anyway, happy readings!

* * *

V is for Victory

Kakashi is six-years-old when he tries out for his first chunin exam. He managed to survive the first two portions of the exam with a team that didn't believe in his abilities and spent the entire time trying to baby him. By the end of the second portion, Kakashi's headache was the size of the Hokage Monument and all he wanted to do was go home and take a bath. The month before the third and final portion of the chunin exam causes an even bigger headache for Kakashi, all because of his father and Sensei.

When Namikaze Minato approached Sakumo with permission to enter Kakashi into the Chunin Exam, the father was excited for his son's progress. The downside was Natalie's strict rule that Kakashi shouldn't test for chunin until he was older. Sakumo knew Kakashi would make an excellent chunin and in his mind, Natalie was obstructing his son's path. So Sakumo and Minato hatched a plan that involved Natalie taking a long mission during the chunin exam. They both figured she would get used to the idea if she couldn't change anything about it. Sakumo knew he wouldn't see the inside of their bedroom for a while, but Kakashi's future was worth it. The plan almost succeeded too, until Natalie returned home a month early while Sakumo was training Kakashi.

Natalie was furious after she learned of both Sakumo and Minato's treachery, but there was nothing she could do about it at that point. She could have snatched Kakashi out of the exam, but her hidden pride wouldn't allow her to do that. She wanted Kakashi to win almost as bad as Sakumo and Minato did, especially after hearing other mothers commenting on Kakashi's 'oddness'. So she let him continue with only one stipulation from Sakumo and Minato, they both had to sit beside her during the exam. Immediately the two agreed, thinking they were off the hook. Oh how wrong they were.

The exams started with the standard lineup for the competitors in the exam arena. Natalie, Sakumo, and Minato sat near the bottom with Natalie biting her fingernails in nervousness. Her son was the shortest and youngest competitor and looked so out of place standing there. She felt like her stomach was doing summersaults and she quickly reached over and squeezed Sakumo's hand, hard.

Sakumo yelped slightly before sharply looking at Natalie and tugging his hand away. "You're squeezing the life out of my hand."

She glared back at him, "Good, you caused me this emotional pain so I'm causing you physical pain. You both better hope that Kakashi doesn't get hurt or you will be sorry."

Minato looked pale as a ghost but nodded anyway. Sakumo pouted before sighing and giving her back his hand. Kakashi's was the very first match of the exams and with a competitor that had to be at least fifteen. The other boy was kissing six feet tall and poor little Kakashi was barely four feet. Natalie's nerves acted up again, which led to Minato and Sakumo being on the receiving end of pain. Even when Kakashi was doing well, Natalie inflicted small chakra enforced thumps of joy to their shoulders and legs. Minato and Sakumo definitely regretted trying to pull the blinders over Natalie's eyes. She was a fighter in emotional situations.

By the time Kakashi finished his first and second matches, Minato and Sakumo were covered in bruises. Natalie was grinning, however, because her baby was in the final round of the chunin exams and doing exceptionally well. A part of her wondered if maybe she was being too over-protective. She continued thinking that until her son's competitor side stepped Kakashi 's lunge and stabbed her son in the chest with a kunai. All thoughts and actions stopped for Natalie. Sakumo's breath quickened and Minato's eyes widened as he stood up to see better over the heads of the other spectators.

Natalie's whispered exclamations of horror were only heard by Sakumo as she buried her face into his shoulder. "Oh no, oh god no. no, no. He's alright. He's got to be alright."

A few seconds later the crowd erupted into cheers and Kakashi was named as victor. Natalie blinked in shock and raised her head from Sakumo's shoulder. She quickly stood up and saw Kakashi's competitor lying on the ground knocked completely out. Minato was standing on the bench cheering with the crowd. Sakumo was clapping with him and the others smiling at Natalie. "What happen?"

Sakumo pulled her down and kissed her quickly in celebration. "While you were freaking out Kakashi released his genjutsu and took down his opponent. He won sweetheart." Natalie laughed and cheered as Kakashi bowed to the crowd and disappeared from the arena floor.

Afterwards, as they were celebrating Kakashi's promotion, Natalie reached over and hugged her son. She kissed his cheek before leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Don't even think about trying out for Jounin until I say so Hatake Kakashi. You're only hurting your father and Sensei."

Kakashi grinned at her and looked at the bruises on his father. "Yes ma'am, I promise."

Natalie leaned back against Sakumo's side and laughed as he mock cried over his bruised hand and arms.

Victory was sweet.

* * *

^_^ They should have known better than to try and pull the wool over Momma's eyes. She always finds out and pain usually ensues. ;P

Review please!


	23. W is for Whine

This was really fun to write because I really do believe that Jiraiya and Kakashi could have had a really cute uncle/nephew relationship even though they weren't related. I think they make such good stories together.

* * *

W is for Whine

Jiraiya really was the absolute last resort for a babysitter and his watching skills were avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary. With Sakumo in the hospital recovering from a mission gone bad and Natalie having to leave on a mission, Jiraiya's skills were unfortunately required. Kakashi could have stayed in the hospital with Sakumo, but the poor man was on so many painkillers that he didn't know if the world was coming or going. He was conscious long enough to kiss Natalie goodbye and apologize to Jiraiya for having to change his plans for the day. Jiraiya took it all in stride because whenever he watched the littlest Hatake he usually ended up with a gorgeous girl after the kid went home. Women loved adorable little kids and their loving and devoted 'uncles'.

Kakashi was a difficult child to watch nevertheless, Jiraiya knew how to work the kid into doing exactly what he needed accomplished. All Jiraiya had to do was turn whatever the task was into some form of shinobi training and the kid was all for it. Whenever Jiraiya wanted to watch women at the bathhouses and had Kakashi, his favorite pastime became 'spying'. Whenever Jiraiya wanted to meet with a beautiful lady, he would send a crying Kakashi over there underneath the guise of learning how to play with others emotions. Watching Kakashi was Jiraiya's most successful dating technique, even his pickup lines didn't work as well as the kid did.

Today Jiraiya had a very special task for Kakashi, one that involved stealth and infiltration. Tsunade had taken his notebook from him last weekend after getting him drunk. He needed to retrieve that notebook and he refused to beg for it as she suggested. He would get his notebook back using his ward for the day. He picked the seemingly innocent four-year-old up from the hospital after promising Natalie he would take exceptional care of Kakashi until Sakumo came around enough to take over. Natalie looked like she didn't believe him, but Jiraiya ignored the look and scooped Kakashi into his arms. The boy kept his angelic appearance until he was away from his parents before scowling at Jiraiya. He poked the older man in the cheek causing Jiraiya to twitch.

"Jiraiya-jiiji?"

Jiraiya twitched again at being calling 'grandpa'. "Brat, I've got a mission for you today. You're going to infiltrate the bathhouse and retrieve an item for me. Your target is Tsunade's bag. She has a certain notebook in her possession that belongs to me. Do you know what it looks like?"

Kakashi nodded twice before raising a hand in question. "Where is Tsunade?"

"At the bathhouse, like I said before, listen brat. Since I'm banned from the bathhouse I can't go in there and get it. You have to go in there for me. Do you accept your mission?"

Kakashi nodded before saluting Jiraiya and hoping out of his arms. "I'll be back soon!"

Jiraiya watched Kakashi stealthily enter the bathhouse and disappear from view. He just hoped Tsunade would have mercy on the kid if she caught him snooping through her bags.

Kakashi, on the other hand, wasn't as naïve as Jiraiya would like to believe. He prided himself on seeing 'underneath the underneath' and knew Jiraiya was setting him up for a world of pain if he got caught. His father wasn't scared of many things outside of him getting hurt and his mother, but Tsunade terrified the White Fang. Kakashi actually liked having all of his limbs so he wasn't about to risk his health for Jiraiya's notebook. He would give Jiraiya a gift though, he was going to disappear. Kakashi giggled to himself as he wondered how Jiraiya would react to discovering he was missing.

Kakashi reached up and rubbed his nose red before making his eyes water and walking into the women's side of the bathhouse. A young black haired girl in a towel noticed him and immediately ran over. "Oh Kakashi-chan, are you okay? Tsunade! Sakumo's little boy is here alone."

Tsunade walked out fully clothed with her bag on her shoulder. "Well so he is Shizune. Hello Kakashi, what brings you here?"

Kakashi held up his hands for Tsunade, to which she raised an eyebrow before taking him from Shizune. "Shizune, go get dressed and then we'll take Kakashi-chan to his dad." Shizune ran off and Tsunade put the boy on the floor. "You've got good acting skills for a four-year-old."

Kakashi smiled brightly, "Wanna see me cry those big crocodile tears that has most women eating out of the palm of my hand?"

Tsunade smirked, "As fun as that sounds, I've got to pass. Now before Shizune gets back, what are you up to?"

"Jiraiya is watching me while Mom is on a mission and Dad is under the influence of his painkillers. Jiiji wanted me to come and take his notebook back from you, but instead I decided to play a prank on him."

Tsunade nodded, "I'll help if you promise no more pranks on me for the next year."

Kakashi held out his hand, "Done."

Kakashi's prank was simple, make Jiraiya think he lost Kakashi, and then somehow have his mother find out. Did his mother finding out really matter? Well since Jiraiya's 'chicken pox' incident she's been itching to have something new to beat him over. A small part of Kakashi felt bad for Jiraiya, but he figured it was just gas and ignored it. Tsunade smuggled Kakashi out of the bathhouse and took him back to the hospital to wait in Sakumo's room. The man was asleep and Kakashi wasn't going to get into too much trouble there.

After what seemed like forever, Jiraiya began to notice that Kakashi hadn't come out yet. The kid hadn't been back for a while. Jiraiya couldn't enter the bathhouse to check for him either. He finally broke down and sent a toad into the bathhouse to find the little brat. The toad came out with a grim expression on his face and informing Jiraiya of Kakashi's absence from the bathhouse. Jiraiya looked worried before henging and walking in himself. Unluckily the bathhouse manager had placed a henge detector over the door and instantly knew Jiraiya was trying to get into the bathhouse and promptly threw him out.

"Wait! Did you see a small silver haired boy in there?"

The manager shrugged, "No I didn't. No one else is in the bathhouse so please leave Jiraiya."

Jiraiya was slightly worried now because he obviously lost his best friend's only son. If Natalie didn't kill him, then Sakumo would. Sakumo doted on the boy more than anybody else and knowing that it was Jiraiya that lost Kakashi was not going to be good for the Toad Sannin. A frenzied Jiraiya raced towards the hospital in hopes that either Tsunade could help him or that maybe Kakashi had gotten lost and went back to the hospital.

Sakumo came to a few hours after Kakashi arrived at the hospital with his four-year-old son curled beside him in the hospital bed. Sakumo groggily reached over and ruffled his hair slightly before turning to face the opening door. Tsunade walked in with a smile on her face, the sound of the door closing woke Kakashi up. He swiftly got out of bed and looked out the window only to happily find Jiraiya hurrying up the hospital stairs. He would be in Sakumo's room in just a few short minutes. Tsunade checked over Sakumo's vitals before winking at Kakashi and walking out the door as Jiraiya ran in.

"Sakumo! I've lost Ka…. Kakashi? There you are! Where have you been?"

Kakashi tilted his head before bringing out his best acting skills. He ran over and pulled Jiraiya over to Sakumo's bedside. Sakumo blinked the haze out of his eyes before looking at the two. Kakashi put on his deepest pout and brought out his best whine. "Daaaad! Jiiji took me out today for in-infiltration training, but he wanted me to steal from Tsunade-hime so I wanted to ask permission before I did it. So can I? Please daddy?"

Sakumo was still having aftereffects from coming off his painkillers and only heard a little bit of what Kakashi actually said. "Son, what did you say?"

Jiraiya tried to clamp his hand over Kakashi's mouth, but the brat moved forward and climbed onto the bed beside Sakumo. He poked his father in the side. "Can I go steal with Jiraiya-jiiji? Please? I promise to be good for him."

Sakumo honestly didn't comprehend a word Kakashi said, so instead of telling him no, he waved Kakashi off with a simple 'sure'. "Just make sure you're good for Jiiji."

Jiraiya watched Sakumo drift back to sleep and couldn't believe his luck. The kid thought he was clever, but with painkillers Sakumo wasn't even going to remember this conversation. Kakashi openly pouted as Jiraiya picked him up and held him upside down. "Got ya brat."

"Not so fast Jiraiya."

Jiraiya cursed as he recognized the voice of one Hatake Natalie. He slowly turned before placing Kakashi on Sakumo's bed. "Yes Natalie."

"Did I hear my son right? You tried to talk him into stealing from Tsunade? Are you crazy? She would have smashed him!"

Kakashi grinned as he snuggled against his father and drifted back into the nap he was taking before he was rudely awoken. Mission 'get Jiraiya in trouble with one of his parents' was a success and he only had to whine a little bit. Hearing Jiraiya whine as he tried to talk his way out of trouble with his mother was always worth the effort.

* * *

Hehe, Jiraiya and Kakashi are too cute.


	24. X is for Xenophobe

Okay xenophobe is the fear of strangers or foreigners. Let's see the insanity ensue.

* * *

X is for Xenophobe

Kakashi's not exactly sure where the rumor started. He vaguely suspected Naruto of making it up in retaliation for leaving him with the ramen bill last week, and the week before that, but that just didn't sound like Naruto. The poor boy had been on the receiving end of enough bad rumors to never really want to start one. Kakashi suspected Sakura too. She was definitely female and in the right age range to spread her gossiping wings. Though Kakashi strongly believe gossiping was something females learned in the womb. He really couldn't suspect Sasuke of anything. Not only was the teenager not in Konoha, but he just wouldn't care enough to waste the energy on something as trivial as a rumor.

Since Kakashi's students obviously weren't guilty of starting the annoying rumor, his next obvious choice was his few friends. Genma was devious enough to do it, but he doubted the older jounin even knew what the word 'xenophobe' meant. Gai was just, well he wasn't even going to go there with Gai. That man wouldn't have started anything to paint his 'rival' in a negative light. Anko was another potential perpetrator, it was right up her sadistic alley, but she was on assignment deep in the bowels of the T&I building.

So there Kakashi was trying his hardest to figure out who started the rumor that he was a xenophobe. To think he, Hatake Kakashi, was had an irrational fear of strangers was almost as funny as the fear itself. It wouldn't have been so bad if shinobi outside the village didn't believe it. All week Kakashi had foreign shinobi tip-toe around him and openly laugh at him for his supposed fear. No one laughed at Hatake Kakashi and survived and if it wouldn't have conflicted with inter-village peace, he would have taken care of those laughing people.

It really did bother him because he couldn't figure out who would make up a rumor like that and why they chose xenophobia of all things. He knew everyone thought he was eccentric, but that was a little extreme even for him. Kakashi was just waiting for one of his many enemies to come to battle with a stranger to see if he would shake in fear. It was days like this that Kakashi really wished he didn't have to get out of bed. There was nothing else that could go wrong today.

Then there came Gai. "Kakashi! Why didn't you tell me of your fear of strangers? I will help you overcome it."

Kakashi took one look at Gai, slammed the door, gathered a few things in a pack, and left out his bedroom window. He was going to stay with his parents and forget about his alleged fear. When he made it home, he found his father reading a book on the couch. The older man looked over his book before grinning at his son, "So, when did you become a…"

Kakashi glared, "If you even finish that sentence I promise I will tell mom everything you have kept from her from the past twenty-five years. I'm not playing."

Sakumo chuckled, "That's okay, I'll just move to another town. Considering your fear, I doubt I would see very much of you."

Kakashi groaned before pushing his father's feet off the couch and plopping down on it. "I have had a horrible day. I just want to go to bed and pretend this never happened."

"Ahh it could have been worst, the rumor could have been you were really a girl or that you had buckteeth. Ya know something fun like that."

Kakashi peeked open his good eye and laughed, "Seriously? Me a female? That would have been interesting."

Sakumo chuckled before flipping a page, "And with your track record, I bet you would have had a few accidents running around here."

"Did you just insinuate I was promiscuous? I'll have you know I have never had a woman come to me and claim I was the father of her child, can't say the same for yourself can you?"

Sakumo smacked Kakashi in the back of the head with his book. "Yeah and that accident grew up into a xenophobe."

Kakashi buried his face in his hands before reaching over to lightly smack his father. Natalie walked in with a bag of groceries in her hands. "Hey you two. Oh Kakashi, Jiraiya said to give you a message."

Kakashi titled his head, "What is it?"

Natalie shrugged before placing the bag on the back of the couch, "He said something about getting payback for all those years of terror. Most specifically he said Jiiji always wins in the end."

Kakashi went strangely quiet before standing up and cursing. Sakumo was too busy laughing to answer Natalie's questioning glances. Across Konoha Jiraiya took out an old crumpled piece of paper that bore two names and a tick for each name. Kakashi's side had many ticks, counting all of the pranks and wrinkles the little brat had caused for his adoptive uncle over the past twenty-six years. Jiraiya's side had three and every tick was worth the effort he put into it.

* * *

^_^ Don't count Jiraiya out!


	25. Y is for Yearning

Disclaimer: I still don't own. No fun there.

Well, I'm almost finished with this story, which is really sad, but needed. I'm ready to get this completed. So happy readings and please review!

* * *

Y is for yearning

It was like an insatiable hunger in the pit of Natalie's stomach as she watched the winter rain splash hard against the glass windows of their home. Every time the chilling rain would splash against the pane of glass, a fog would form on the window and obscure her vision of the outside world. If the temperature didn't stop dropping, then they would have snow before morning. Natalie's eyebrows knitted in frustration as the glass slowly continued to fog over. Snow would only complicate things.

Natalie took a deep breath and rubbed her arms for warmth. She wasn't cold; the blaring heater in the house made sure of that, but the constant worry was chilling her to the bone. The worry was quickly eating away at her sanity. She felt like she was going to go crazy if she didn't get word soon. Two weeks late on a three day mission never spelled a good outcome and that worried Natalie. It worried her because she knew the truth. She wasn't some civilian wife that would blindly hold onto the hope that her husband was alive, she was a shinobi. Natalie knew Sakumo's chances were slipping with every hour that passed, but even if she knew the possibilities, she stayed by the window and waited.

A gentle rustle disturbed Natalie's thoughts as she looked away from the frosting window toward the light blue bassinet in the living room. She hadn't left her post for the last few days and had singlehandedly dragged the bassinet from downstairs and into the living room. Her son hadn't agreed with his change in scenery at first, but he was slowly warming up to the change in location. A tiny hand barely peeked over the top of the bassinet with a tiny fist clenched tightly. Another little fist appeared beside the first one as her son began to angrily flail his arms. Natalie knew she was soon going to have something to take her mind off of her worry. Slowly, a soft cry filled the room to accompany the thrashing little limbs. The cries increased in volume until they were shrill and heart wrenching. The mothering side of Natalie demanded for her to run over and immediately give her son the attention he needed, but exhaustion was too prevalent in her body. Instead, she smiled sadly as she slowly walked over and reached into the bassinet to pick up her son.

Once settled securely in her arms, Natalie rocked her baby and listened to the cries slowly quiet down. Even after two full months of knowing Kakashi, Natalie stilled marveled at him. From his tiny fingers to the even tinier toes, everything about her son captivated her attention. The way he would coo whenever Sakumo picked him up to the way he would smile whenever Natalie made goofy faces at him. The subtle way he would attempt to roll over only to be stopped by something in his way. Everything about him fascinated her.

Natalie sighed deeply and let her fears and worries wash away with the rain as she looked over at the feathery haired babe resting against her shoulder. The gentle, comforting smell of her baby floated into her nostrils and caused her to sigh in sweet relief. At that moment, with his little head barely lifting off of her shoulder, Kakashi became her anchor. All ten pounds and seven ounces of him became her anchor.

He made another soft cry to signal his hunger, which had Natalie swiftly walking to the kitchen to fix his formula. The impatient infant in her arms didn't agree with waiting for his formula to heat up in the boiling water and instead cried out in displeasure. He didn't like it when things weren't instantaneously given to him, just like other young babes. Natalie pouted down at the angry baby in her arms. His back arched in her hold as his arms and legs kicked out. A very red flush raced across Kakashi's pale cheeks and his fists clenched in anger. A distressing wail erupted from the opened mouth that wanted to be filled with warm formula.

Natalie paced a little and swayed Kakashi in her arms. "Shush now, there's no reason to cry little one."

Kakashi only continued crying, until Natalie took the bottle out of the boiling water and into his mouth, after making sure the formula wasn't too hot. The cry was cut off and replaced with gentle sucking noises and the slightest whimpers. Natalie gently patted Kakashi's back as he ate before walking back over to her seat by the window and watching the falling rain.

With Kakashi being taken care of, she was back to the yearning feeling in the pit of her stomach. The longing in her fingertips to touch Sakumo, to see him, to hear him, to know he's beside her. The ache in her chest whenever she looked out into the yard and didn't see him walking up the walkway. It hurt so much. Kakashi snuggled against her chest and spit the nipple of the bottle out of his mouth, only to begin crying once more. Natalie sighed and placed the bottle on the windowsill so she could hoist Kakashi onto her shoulder. His crying didn't stop and rang throughout the empty house. Natalie didn't know what was wrong with him, he wasn't hungry or needed to be changed. He was just crying, perhaps he could feel the despair in his mother's presence.

A groaned escaped Natalie's lips as she walked over to the couch and settled herself on the plush furniture. She laid back and closed her eyes, Kakashi was still angrily crying on her chest, but she couldn't do anything to stop his tears. Only Sakumo could consol their son whenever he got like this, but Sakumo wasn't there. Natalie wrapped both arms around Kakashi and cried into his soft hair. There mother and child cried together, 'til they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Natalie moaned a little as she woke up and squinted her eyes in the dim light. Something was missing, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Only when she stretched her arms above her head did she remember that she fell asleep with Kakashi in them. Frantically, she began searching the floor, dreading to find her baby lying injured on the floor. He wasn't there. She could feel her heart beat wildly in her chest as she walked over to the bassinet to see if maybe she woke in the night and placed him in it. It too was empty. She began searching the house.

A chill entered Natalie's heart as she slowly looked towards the door and saw it standing open. Her mind raced towards a million different scenarios that all involved Kakashi being kidnapped while she slept. In just her nightclothes, Natalie stepped onto the porch and began checking for any sign of a forced injury. Nothing could be seen.

Natalie thought she was going to hyperventilate as she wildly started back into the house, only to run into a solid body. Her mind entered survival mode as she reached for the kunai she always kept strapped to her body, but a large hand stopped hers and gently brought it to his lips to kiss. Natalie stopped fighting against the strong hold of the intruder and looked up into the weary face of her husband.

"Sakumo?"

He grinned, it was full of exhaustion, and closed the door behind her. "I'm home."

Natalie stood stunned for a few minutes before launching herself towards her husband. "Welcome back."

Sakumo caught her easily and kissed the top of her head. "I'm tired."

Natalie nodded and led him upstairs, "By the way, did you move Kakashi?"

He nodded, "You two looked so cute sleeping together that I hated to move him, but I had to. I've spent the last two weeks sleeping on stone, tonight; I'm sleeping beside my wife."

Natalie grinned, "Fine by me."

* * *

Well 'Y' gave me some trouble, but everything's good now.


	26. Z is for Zoo

So the end if finally here, but it was a good trip.

Happy Readings!

* * *

Z is for Zoo

"What do you mean we need a team bonding trip? My team is doing fine."

The Third sighed deeply, "Kakashi, have you watched your team lately? Sasuke and Naruto are still at each other's throats, while Sakura is fawning after Sasuke like a dog in heat. Naruto is pretty much stalking Sakura and you're aloofly distant. Your team needs a team bonding exercise."

Kakashi sighed, "Fine, what do you suggest Hokage-sama? A training trip?"

"No Kakashi, that wouldn't help any. Naruto and Sasuke will still try to outdo each other. Take them somewhere that doesn't revolve around their shinobi training, like the zoo in the capital."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the older man. "The zoo? Seriously?" The look on the Hokage face was deadly serious. "Okay fine. We'll go to the zoo."

The Third smiled warmly before wishing Kakashi good luck. With a hyperactive blond, an annoying fan-girl, and an emotionless rock, Kakashi would need all the luck he could get.

A day later Kakashi found himself telling his team that they were going to travel to the capital to visit the zoo instead of training. It was met with various reactions ranging from displeasure to confusion, but no one threw anything sharp and pointy at him, so he took that as them taking the news well. So he gathered the team and they began their journey, only to be hindered by Naruto as he begged him to stop for ramen before they left the village. Kakashi only agreed after Naruto promised to buy his meal.

"Thanks Sensei!"

Kakashi waved the boy off and slowly followed behind as he raced into the ramen stand. Sakura and Sasuke followed too, but both kept identical looks of annoyance on their faces. By the time Kakashi walked into the ramen stand, he was greeted with the sight of a familiar head of silver hair sitting with his own bowl of ramen and chatting happily with the blond haired boy.

"What are you doing here?"

Sakumo turned and grinned at Kakashi, "Waiting for your mom. What are you guys up to today?"

Naruto beamed from his steaming bowl of ramen, "Kakashi-sensei is taking us on a team bonding trip to the zoo."

Kakashi shrugged, "Yeah, Hokage's orders."

Sakumo chuckled to himself, "That sounds fun, but there's a slight problem with your plans."

Kakashi crossed his arms across his chest, "What problem?"

"You're banned from the zoo for life."

Naruto coughed as he choked on his noodles, which had Sakura scrambling to smack him on the back. Sasuke watched it all with a quiet stare. Kakashi looked truly confused. "I'm banned from the zoo? Why?"

"You don't remember?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not at all."

Sakumo grinned and turned to the genin, "Gather around children and I'll tell you a story you'll never forget."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Get on with the story old man."

Sakumo glared at his son before grinning, "When Kakashi was about three or four his mother was sent on a two week mission. I was on leave for the month and really didn't want to spend my leave at home, so we went to the capital for a mini-vacation. Natalie was going to meet up with us after her mission was completed. To this day, I still don't know the full story of what went on."

_Flashback…_

_Four-year-old Kakashi happily held his daddy's hand as they entered the only zoo in all of Fire Country. The zoo housed multiple exotic species of animals, fish, and insects, as well as some of the most endangered species of the entire shinobi nations. All of this was right up little Kakashi's alley. He was excited to see such amazing creatures up, close, and personal. There was a slight problem though, just a few exhibits into the zoo, Kakashi realized that his 'zoo experience' was downright disappointing. The animals were all either sleeping or lying down. There wasn't a single carnivorous animal maiming down their prey or prowling around their habitats. It was depressing for the little shinobi wannabe. _

_Sakumo, though, was excitedly pointing out the lethargic animals as if they were the greatest things in all of the shinobi nations. Kakashi just couldn't understand why a sleeping lion or a bear lazing on a rock would be that interesting to the man that fought in a shinobi war. It baffled Kakashi, but he played along and looked everywhere his daddy pointed. By midmorning, Kakashi was bored out of his mind and trying not to show it. As much as he wanted to look at the animals housed behind thick glass and iron fences, the adventurous side of him wanted to touch the animals. To truly see them up, close, and personal._

_That's when the little shinobi-in-training thought of his brilliant plan to get further acquainted with the zoo animals. He impatiently tugged on Sakumo's hand and told him that he had to go to the bathroom. Sakumo nodded and attempted to led him into the bathroom beside the bear's cage, but Kakashi insisted he was old enough to go to the bathroom by himself. Reluctantly, Sakumo relented and watched Kakashi walk into the bathroom by himself. For some strange reason, he had the strangest feeling that this wasn't going to end well. _

_Once in the bathroom, Kakashi used his chakra to climb up the dingy walls and out one of the small windows in the back of the restroom. He peered around the wall of the bathroom and watched his dad wait for him outside the door. Kakashi grinned to himself and took off in the direction of the monkey cages. He had always wanted to swing among the monkeys, his Momma had always said he climbed like one. Kakashi darted around taller adults and children before finding himself standing in front of the chimpanzee cage. He grinned and began searching the cage for the door. Once he found it hidden behind several large bushes, he maneuvered himself through the thick brush and opened the door. The other onlookers had moved on, leaving Kakashi there by himself. One of the chimps walked over to him and handed him a half eaten apple piece. It was covered in slobber, but Kakashi considered it a peace offering. He took the fruit and set it on the ground beside his feet. While he was bending over, the chimp playfully pushed him over and removed his sandal from his foot. The chimp clapped before running around Kakashi and out the still open door. Little Kakashi pouted as he watched a few of his newfound friends leave their home with his sandal, but decided that it was time for him to move on anyway. His dad was sure to have missed him by now. _

_Sakumo was still waiting outside the bathroom. He wanted to go in and see about Kakashi, but he knew his son was stubborn. Sakumo decided to give his boy a few more minutes before he went in there to check on him. While Sakumo was debating over going to check on Kakashi or not, his son was actually tiptoeing around the lazy lion's cage. Kakashi had managed to climb over the fence and drop into the habitat without breaking a sweat. A few kids had unfortunately seen him and were waving as their parents talked amongst themselves. Kakashi waved back before walking over to the lion and gently nudging it with his big toe. The lion gave him an onceover before closing his eyes again and going back to sleep. Kakashi pouted before walking over and climbing on top of the lion. He poked the lion in the ear and roughly pulled at his mane. The lion roared loudly and immediately raced across his home and into the waterfall where his bedding was at. Kakashi held on for dear life as the animal took off across the field. He didn't let up his hold 'til the lion had stopped completely, only then did he put on shaking foot down on the concrete and exit the lion's habitat. _

_Sakumo growled in frustration before walking into the bathroom, Kakashi had been in there long enough. He began searching for his son, only to discover the boy was missing. His heart stopped cold in his chest, because all he could think about was someone taking Kakashi away from him. What if one of his enemies had followed them and taken the boy while Sakumo was waiting? It was a thought that filled Sakumo's heart with dread and his stomach with cold anxiety. He quickly left the bathroom and immediately began searching the crowd for Kakashi. He couldn't find him anywhere. He was just about to start bringing out his ninken when he noticed a very small chimpanzee sitting on a bench eating a discarded bag of popcorn. The chimp looked at him before clapping her hands and that's when Sakumo noticed the small sandal beside her. Sakumo groaned as he realized his son was somehow responsible for this. _

_Kakashi grinned as he watched the penguins slide along the ice before diving into the water. He was sitting on the side of the icy water with his shoeless foot dipped in. He had scraped his while trying to leave the lion cage. The icy water made the burn lessen. Kakashi was too busy laughing and watching the penguins to notice that a few of the visitors had seen him. _

"_Do you see that boy?"_

"_Is he supposed to be in there?"_

"_Someone call the zookeepers. I don't think he's supposed to be there."_

_A few minutes later, Kakashi's time with the penguins were cut short as the door opposite from the one he had come through opened to reveal a rather large woman. She had the plump motherly look that most grandmothers carried, but the intensity of her was lessen by the fact that she was carrying a bucket of fish. She blinked in surprise at seeing the small silver haired boy. Kakashi didn't stay around long enough to hear what she had to say, with a cleverly hidden smoke bomb he had nicked off of his dad, Kakashi disappeared out the other door. The woman immediately put out an alert to the other zoo workers; watch out for a silver haired little boy. Some of the workers didn't get the alert though; because they were too busy trying to get the chimpanzees back into their cages. _

_Sakumo eventually found his way to the penguin cage, he had followed the whispered rumors about a mysterious silver haired boy sneaking into the animal cages. When he found the cage empty of his son, Sakumo finally got fed up and summoned one of his faithful ninken. He patted the wolf's head before ordering him to find Kakashi. _

_The wolf nodded and instantly took off in the direction of the snake house. What Sakumo found would haunt him forever; his son was sitting in the middle of the python cage having a staring contest with the rather large snake. Sakumo tried his hardest to not freak out, but another snake was moving around behind Kakashi and all the older male could think of was his son being swallowed whole by the other snake. Suddenly, the back door opened and a male zookeeper walked in, grabbed Kakashi, and left the habitat. Sakumo breathed a sigh of relief before running out of the snake house and around the back. Kakashi grinned innocently at his dad as the man frowned at him. _

"_Hi daddy."_

"_Don't you 'hi daddy' me."_

_The zookeeper led both of the Hatake's to the administrative building of the zoo. The owner sighed deeply before grabbing a piece of paper and handing it to Sakumo. He also handed Sakumo the missing sandal. _

"_As much as we love having shinobi visitors, we just can't allow something like this to happen again. I'm sorry, but we're banning your son from ever setting foot inside this zoo again. He's wrecked enough havoc for one lifetime. Please, never bring him back."_

_Sakumo sighed before picking up Kakashi and exiting the zoo. Kakashi happily gripped his hand before looking up and smiling, "That was fun! Can we do it again?"_

_End Flashback…_

Naruto was laughing by the end of the story, Sakura was trying her hardest to giggle quietly, and Sasuke was actually smirking a little less than normal. Sakumo grinned at his pouting son, "So that is why you can never go back to the zoo."

"You were definitely a determined child Sensei."

"I'll say, even I have never done something like that. My pranks could never match up to being banned from the zoo."

Kakashi glared at his students, "Fine, trip canceled." An evil glint showed in Kakashi's eye as she pointed towards the training grounds, "Let's go train now."

Sakumo watched as the three genin actually looked scared and took off towards the training grounds. "You're not going to kill them are you 'kashi?"

"Of course not, just strike fear into their hearts."

Sakumo snorted, "Have fun."

"Always."

Sakumo watched as his son walked away from him, hours later he went to see about the young genin and found them all curled up asleep together. Kakashi protectively watching over them. Sakumo decided that even though they didn't get their bonding trip, they still got bonding time and that's all that really mattered.

* * *

^_^ Kakashi was a rebel wasn't he? Haha Poor Kakashi, getting banned from the zoo and everything. I think I feel worse for the genin though, Kakashi surely put them through the ringer.


End file.
